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PAGE 4 GEORGIA BULLETIN THURSDAY, JULY 23, 1964 the Archdiocese of Atlanta GEORGIA BULLETIN SitVINO OtORGIAS 71 NORTHMW COUNTII* 1 4ttfae* *vy* Official Organ of the Archldocese of Atlanta Published Every Week at the Decatur DeKalb News PUBLISHER- Archbishop Paul J. Hallinan MANAGING EDITOR Gerard E. Sherry CONSULTING EDITOR Rev. R. Donald Kiernan ASSOCIATE EDITOR Rev. Leonard F. X. Mayhew Member of the Catholic Press Association and Subscriber to N. C. W. C. News Service Telephone 231-1281 Second Class Permit at Altanta, Ga. 2699 Peachtree N. E. P. 0. Box 11667 Norths ide Station Atlanta 5, Ga. U. S. A. $5.00 Canada $5.00 Foriegn $6.50 Anti-Semitism With the political pot coming to boil a tremendous amount of hate literature is beginning to ap pear all over the place. So- called patriotic groups are flood ing the market with anti-Negro and anti-Semitic material. It should come as no surprise that the racists are also anti-Jew. What does disgust, however, is that some of these purveyors of hate in the south openly boast of being Catholic. In our pre occupation with justice for the Negro we tend to forget the rise in anti-Semitism. herence to our own beliefs does not give us license for bad faith in relation to others. A full practice of our religion can in spire only love; it is the repu diation of it that breeds the hate of anti-Semitism. Catholics, as well as other Christians, have a lot to atone for in relation to our apathy and lethargy concerning the Jews. We have done little to honor our birthright or our baptism in this regard. are prag/rfg GEORGIA PINES A Landmark Passes That a Catholic could promote anti-Semitism has always been a cause of shame for us. After all, Christ was a Jew; so was the Blessed Virgin; so was St. Joseph; so were almost all the first Christians. It is therefore difficult to understand how any Christian can be anti-Semitic. Catholicism is full of Judaism. To quote the late Father James Gillis, noted Paulist editor and preacher, "To put the fact in its most paradoxical yet truest form, we are the Jews. We stem not from Christ alone, but from Ab raham.” All the more reason, it appears to us, for Catholics to feel very close to the Jewish people. Cer tainly we must respect them as individuals and in their faith. Our acknowledgement of our ad- We rather wish President John son would seek a competent run ning mate without regard to his religious affiliation. This be cause we are sick and tired of the implication that a Catholic Is necessary on the ticket of either party. We read by the papers that Senator Goldwater's vice- presidential choice was predi cated on the fact that Congress man Miller was an easternCath- AN ALTAR BOY NAMED "SPECK" When one reads, in political leaflets and periodicals directed or edited by self-styled "prac tical Catholics", hate and slander of the Jews, one must always ask why? What is it, other than the warped mind, that can hate so much? The Jews are as loyal and as conscientious and as civic- minded as the rest of us. There are some bad Jews but we fear thati there are far more bad Christians. Let us all work together to eradicate any form of anti-Semi-p* tism in our hearts. Hate and prejudice have no place in poli tical campaigns, be they local or national. Catholics, espec ially, should lead the way and give their fellow-citizens the * perfect Christian example--love of neighbor. olic, and was expected to draw some co-religionists who voted for the late President Kennedy. This line of reasoning is an insult both to the memory of the late president and to the intelli gence of the average Catholic voter. We have often urged that the religion of a political can didate be the least of the consid erations when it comes to cast ing our vote. We again suggest that the religious issue be left out o£ this coming presidential campaign. BY REV. R. DONALD KIERNAN NEWS ITEM: “Bon Air dies in Augusta,. Georgia. 0 No doubt this newspaper article brought sadness of heart to many an Augustan and nostalgic memories to visitors from all over the United States. Located on Walton Way in Augusta, the hotel had a vantage view of the whole city. A curved, spacious drive led up to the white stucco build ing which spread over an acre. Towering magnolia trees and wide terraces set off the building in truesouthernstyle. A portico tender ed by a liveryman lent an air of southern aristocracy. LONG BEFORE Florida had its “Gold Coast’*, the area •round Augusta became a win ter haven for northern and mid- western people of means. The Florida coast had not yet been opened by the railroads and Augusta a offered a respite from the cold gruesome win ter months up north. Horse lovers, golfers and those just seeking an escape from the snow and ice came to love Augusta. Then the Bon Air was in its day. Wide verandas, superb cuisine, congenial com pany all made for a relaxed atmosphere for those fortunate enough to become long time or seasonal residents in the southern mansion. TRAINS, SUPER highways, improved auto mobiles and airplanes changed the whole com plex of traveling America. Florida boomed and the Carribean Islands offered even more security from the harshness of northern winters. En terprising owners and managers of the famed hotel redecorated the‘spacious meeting rooms and installed new dining facilities, but to no avail. % For a time, however, it seemed that the Bon Air had met the demands of the convention trade and the Influx of visitors to watch the world- famous Masters Tournament at the Augusta Na tional often made rooms at a premium. But these spasmodic events did not yield enough financially to continue the hotel in elegance. A HOTEL chain purchased the hotel during the war years. The nearness of an army camp with its thousands and thousands of visitors came as a "shot in the arm” and once more a steady clientele was insured. The Bon Air, in spite of help shortages and rationing, continued to give its guests the same service which had made its name synonymous with Southern Hospitality through the years. The end of the war brought a period of hard days to the hotel. When Dwight D. Elsenhower was elected President of .the United States once again in the hotel began to boom. Whenever the President came to Augusta, the Bon Air served as press headquarters for the hundreds of radio and newspaper men who accompanied the Pre sident. FROM TIME to time the celebrites who sat on the porches and strolled along the lawn brought fame and notoriety to the hotel. The presence of such notables brought with them thou sands of dollars worth of advertising. Interstate highways skirting the metropolitan areas and the convenience of motels rang the death note of many a hotel, including the Bon-Air. Attempts were made to convert the hotel into a hostel for the elderly but to no avail. The hotel represents an age long since passed. I RECALL going to two conventions of the Diocesan Council of Catholic Women held at the Bon Air. The spacious lobby and its large meet ing rooms made for a city-within-a-city. State conventions such as this recall to many a Georgian the elegence of the Bon Air and it is no small wonder that sadness is felt all over the state at its closing. The swimming pool has been drained, the electric power shut off, the doors locked and with these things the closing of an era. News Item: “Bon Air dies in Augusta.” CHURCH EDUCATIONAL ROLE Catholic On Ticket? Your World And Mine AMf-AW— “I don’t suppose you’d have a bobbie pin, Slater?” The impartial performance of the late president John F. Ken nedy, in the Church-State field was sufficient (we thought) to have laid the religious issue to rest. Now, vote-seeking ward -heel - ers are resurrecting it. We hope President Johnson will scorn the "Catholic-on-the-ticket" advo cates and choose whomever he considers the best man for the job. He may decide on a Catholic. So be it. It would be a mockery if a Catholic was chosen merely for vote-getting reasons. The times are too grave for such immature thinking. * f f • I it f 1 We hope that both political parties have enough men of ded ication to our democracy that the religious issue will be buried deeper than it was in 1960. Pres ident Kennedy proved our point. Let us therefore get on with the job of electing the best men for the posts at hand, without worry ing about their church affiliation. BY GARY MACEOIN It Is not only here in the United States that the _ great debate on the future of education under Catholic auspices is taking place. In many parts of the world, Catholics are asking if it is necessary and proper to continue today to give general education as high a priority among Catholic institutionalactivities as has been customary in recent centuries. The issue was keenly debated, for example, at a recent national meeting of the association of Catholic colleges of Colombia. The meeting agreed that a program to streamline Catholic educational activities in the country, with a view to their., gradual reduction, should be prepared for submission to a later meeting. The practical reason ad vanced for this re-evaluation is substantially the same as those which underlay the de cision of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati to suppress the five lowest grades in its schools and transfer the children to the public schools. It is that edu cation is threatening to absorb too high a pro portion of the resources available for the apostolate. Allied to this is the fear, more valid in Colombia than in the United States, that the Catholic schools tend to become the preserve of the children of the well-to-do, thus constituting a scandal and a stumbling block rather than a pastoral aid. Even more noteworthy was theoretical argu ment put forward in a Bogota Catholic newspaper on the eve of the meeting and taken up by vari ous speakers. In a striking departure from the traditional Catholic position, it was argued that ‘society today is more conscious of its obli gation to educate all its members, that it is more adequately equipped-through the facilities provided by the state to give tnem a human formation, and that consequently the Church is free to withdraw progressively from this area of service and concentrate on its primary mission of preaching the gospel, IN MANY of the newly independent states of Africa the same debate is going on in a very different context. Education has developed only very recently, mostly during the present century, in that part of the world. The first schools for Africans were built and staffed by missionaries CONTINUED ON PAGE 5 NO NEED Becker Amendment BY GERARD E. SHERRY Congressman Frank J. Becker (Republican, New York) is very mad at the Legal Deaprtment of the National Catholic Welfare Conference be cause it does not back his proposed "Prayer and Bible Reading Amendment'* now being con sidered. Becker, a Catholic has expressed displeasure that the Legal Department of the organization which represents the American Catholic Bishops has urged "caution" in relation to his amendment. And he has written to all of the American Bishops saying so. Furthermore, he has asked each Bishop to answer a question naire which asks the following: “Do you support the premise that children in public schools be permitted to pray on a voluntary basis? “Do you oppose such an amendment?'* There are several things wrong with Congress man’s Becker’s approach. First of all he should know that, outside of Faith and Morals, there is as much diversity of opinion among the U. S. hierarchy as there is in his own Republican Party. Secondly, there are many matters of interest on which the Bishops have no desire and are not expected to have a common policy. In their own self-interest, and in the interest of the Church, a common policy is often arrived at, but con formity is not always achieved. This is true on a variety of subjects, Most recent example of this can be shown in the current controversey over California’s Proposition 14, an anti-fair housing ’tiative. All the Bishops of California, with the excep tion of Cardinal McIntyre of Los Angles, have called for the defeat of the initiative at the polls in November. The Cardinal's political views are well known, and he is entitled to express them like any other citizen. On some other mat ter he could perhaps be found on the side of the Bishops who disagree with him on this particular proposition. The National Catholic Welfare Con ference is by no means a rubber-stamp organi zation. Each Bishop is free to accept or reject recommendations of its administrative board— that is, unless it is in the area of decrees and policies on which there has been direction and instruction from the Holy See ‘ Congressman Becker should also be aware of the fact that the Supreme Court did not rule on “voluntary prayer”. It simply said that official prayers were not the field of government and were in conflict with the Constitution. I find this quite compatible with Catholic thought and see in it no dangers to the freedom of religion. To ask our Bishops whether they favor volun tary prayer for children in public schools has an artificial ring about it. Of course, they would favor voluntary prayer. The issue is not that simple. It is like asking the Bishops whether they are against sin. The answer is always obvious. I doubt whether Mr. Becker’s amendment is in accord with the minds of the Founding Fathers. They certainly wanted God to be worshipped from the heart, and it was partly their concern for genuine, sincere worship that prompted them to forbid the establishment of any one religion. Therefore, we should look for ways and means of furthering this spirit. As Archbishop Hallinan suggested last year after the Supreme Court had ruled on the subject: "What is most needed now is enough Ameri can inventiveness to raise our present pro gram of competent public education to a more equitable system, rationally and mutually agreed upon—a system worthy of a nation "under God" with room for children whose parents want religious education as well as for those whose parents do not." Congressman Becker’s amendment can set a dangerous precedent for if he can succeed in amending the Constitution on this particular score, others might attempt amendments in other areas without regard to the common good. Consti tutional changes should not be sought out in an emotional manner. It is too Important to this Democracy to have it tampered with at the whim of any legislator. What is more we are heading for anarchy If every time the Supreme Court renders a decision those who disagree with it try to change the Constiution. I realize that those who support the Becker Amendment fear that God has been, or will be driven from the public schools. Alas, legislat ing prayer will not necessarily make us anymore spiritual. Certainly, meaningful prayer cannot be achieved by regimentation, and we would be fools if we tried to Impose it upon society. I am remind ed of the opinion of Supreme Court Justice Bren nan when the Court ruled June 17th last year. He said: "The state must be steadfastly neutral in all matters of faith and neither favor nor Inhibit religion. In my view, government cannot sponsor religious exercises in the public schools without jeopardizing that neut rality. "On the other hand, hostility, not neutra lity, would characterize the refusal to pro vide chaplains and places of worship for prisoners and soldiers cut off by the state from all civilian opportunities for public communion, or the witholding of draft exemp tions for ministers and conscientious ob jectors, or the denial of temporary use of an empty public building to a congrega tion whose place of worship had been des troyed by a fire or flood. "The finding of the Court today plainly does not foreclose teaching about the Holy Scriptures or about the differences between religious sects in classes in literature and history. Indeed; whether or not the Bible is specifically involved, it would be impossible to teach meaningfully many subjects in the social sciences or the humanities without some mention of religion.’** REAPINGS AT RANDOM